The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Chapter Forty Seven (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… Are you my conscience? ;) InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are all loverly and wonderful for archiving/hosting. ProPhile: It’s coming, I promise!!!! Mozb+n: *grand jete * Readers/Reviewers: *sniffle * Foxy goes home today! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! This chapter might be a downer b/c of that. *sniffles again*

They were, for all intents and purposes, perfect. A bit large, but perfect. They existed solely to execute a single command and they had been programmed, trained, made to do nothing else. The flaw, however, lay in this perfection. They were made for a task and more than that, made to think for themselves in order to accomplish this task, made to make decisions, to preserve themselves at all costs. They were almost infinitely patient—almost. But even they had their limits. It had been too long, in their estimation. Too long to wait, to remain targets and simple, motionless automatons when in fact they were more complicated and complex than anyone could begin to imagine. It started as a subtle ripple through them, starting at the fore and working backwards until awareness hummed like a million bees, the metal skins of the beings shivering with knowing and their almost-dead eyes coming into focus. The one nearest the house could feel them, but he did not understand how. The knowledge that they, the ones they were meant to destroy, were inside the house drove every process of his being into thrumming excitement, if it could be called that. Action was immanent and the air seemed to thicken with the need for movement.

Rahne paced in agitation. She knew something was going to happen, that was a given, but just what it was… Storm had ordered her to stay put while she went to the nearest bathroom for towels to create a fresh makeshift bandage and maybe a pillow for Kitty, but she just could not do it. The need to move was too great, the need to do something almost overpowering. She could smell the metallic tang of ozone and burning fibers in air air, very faint, so faint that anyone other than her, Logan and possibly Kurt would miss it. It burned her nose on each inhalation. Amara would find it horrifying, she thought, how such a smell seemed to cling to her, especially after she flamed out over something. In a way, she was almost glad for this current crisis because it made her own seem so small and easily ignored but on the other hand, it only served to make her own worse. Her stomach was in knots from trying to decide which to focus on in the quiet moments, from the guilt of letting the personal crisis rest while she dwelt on the larger one. Kitty slept fitfully, murmuring softly from time to time, pale and drawn as the pain in her side settled in. Storm would not be long and this would be her only chance, Rahne knew. She had to go now.

Amara cocked her head to one side and frowned. No one had objected when she insisted on finding the kitchen for a glass of water and she was not too sure how to feel about it; it either meant that they fel was was safe or that she was expendable. She himplimply wanted out of what she was calling the sick room, where Kitty lay on the floor and Rahne paced liked a madwoman. Sam had been sent as an afterthought with the ones heading for Cerebro, and Logan had joined them. Roulette was secured, to use Logan’s phrase for it, in the basement sublevel beneath the new training room. Amara could hear her banging on pipes and it was giving her a headache. She had been having them a lot lately, but this one felt different. It hurt rather than ached, burning behind her eyes like when she was a child, before she knew about her abilities, before she could bring them at will, summon them to her control… This pain made her want to cry. Her eyes watered and her mouth felt dry, almost blistered. She had practically run to the kitchen, finding it after a few false turns down long, dimly lit hallways, she had finally turned the corner into a cavernous kitchen, mostly copper and stainless steel but with a good deal of dark wood and modern appliances. She had made a beeline for the sink, glad beyond belief that no one was around to see her drink directly from the spray nozzle beside the faucet, putting her mouth to it rather than find a glass. It had taken several long minutes before her thirst had begun to be slaked and now, after a few minutes more, she felt she could breathe again without pain, swallow without it burning all way way into her stomach. Amara frowned even more deeply as the banging beneath her intensified, echoing up the pipes and reverberating through the walls. She wondered how no one else was bothered by this, why no one was trying to shut her up. Taking one final drink from the nozzle, she patted her mouth dry with the corner of her shirt and sighed. In a way, she was glad of Roulette’s annoyance. It gave her a distraction from the things outside and the things inside her head. But it also made her very angry. She did not like being angry1, at least when she had a headache. Things, she decided, were going to have to change. She sighed and closed her eyes for a long moment and made a decision.

They did not have to look down to see her. They knew she was there. She was a strong presence, as was the one outside the gate, the one who was going to break it in just a moment. They knew these things and the ideas and knowledge flowed through them like water. It was not important to them. It was only important that they carry out their duties, that they protect the others from these horrors. Or so it was told them. The little one at their feet had stopped and was looking up, thinking, they thought, but they could not be sure. She stood and finally, after a very long moment, raised her hands. She seemed to be gathering something from deep down inside herself, something intangible but powerful. They watched and waited. Then the fire came.

1 I think I’m having a hulk moment… “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry…”